Roger Clemens is under no obligation to tell us anything — truth or otherwise.

He hasn't been charged with a crime. He doesn't hold a public office.

And whether he did steroids certainly isn't a matter of national security.

Clemens doesn't have to say a word.

Yet for some reason, he believes he must speak; in bits and pieces thus far, but every other day, as public opinion tends to lean more and more against him, he comes out with something new.

My advice to perhaps the greatest pitcher of all-time?

Shut up.

Video of no consequence

Those who don't believe you won't change their minds, and those who do believe you, well, what are their minds made of anyway? There are only a handful of people on the planet who know the truth, so how could any of the rest of us make up our minds?

Clemens might very well be getting railroaded worse than Homer Plessy, but a two-minute video on his personal Web site won't change what was in the Mitchell Report. Neither will going on 60 Minutes.

Clemens took the stand in the court of public opinion Sunday, releasing a video claiming allegations of steroids use by his former trainer Brian McNamee are false.

He's not under oath

"I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body," Clemens said in the Internet clip. "Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or human growth hormones into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays or the New York Yankees. This report is simply not true."

There was one thing missing from the video presentation:

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

And that, says attorney Earl Ward, is why Clemens is so willing to claim McNamee never injected him with steroids, as McNamee has told federal authorities.

"Roger's not under oath, so it's damage control. It's damage control," Ward said in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon.

Of course, Ward is paid to represent McNamee.

Rusty Hardin, who is paid to represent Clemens, says the report isn't true. Translation: Ward's client is the liar.

In a way, these two are calling out each other's client, and there is no middle ground for interpretation. These well-paid, highly respected attorneys are headed toward a "Yo mama!" schoolyard battle.

Who's telling truth?

As Hardin said Sunday, "Everybody has a dog in this fight."

And one of these dogs is a liar. Who do you believe?

It's the classic, time-worn tale of athlete versus trainer: Did he inject me with steroids or not? OK, the topic isn't exactly old-school, but this looks like it is going to be a tussle.

"He had no desire to implicate one of baseball's greatest pitchers in a steroids scandal, but he was obligated to tell the truth and he told federal investigators the truth," Ward said. "It's clear that Brian McNamee was open and honest when he spoke with the authorities about Roger Clemens."

McNamee did have incentive to be truthful.

McNamee entered into an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office to avoid prosecution for steroids distribution. Of course, if McNamee is found to have been untruthful, the charges — and others — are back on.

The interviews with former Sen. George Mitchell, hired by baseball to put together a report on steroids in the sport, were conducted before federal prosecutors, and agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service.

On the other hand, Clemens' latest comments come with all the formality of a video recorded by a buddy with his cell phone.

That said, there is still no way to definitively conclude whether McNamee told the truth to avoid prison or told a lie to bring down Clemens.

Even the fact that he told the truth about Andy Pettitte doesn't really mean McNamee told the truth about Clemens. (Pettitte and McNamee have lied before.)

And, sorry Roger, 25 years of public life doesn't mean you didn't use steroids for the last 10. You were a pitcher in the major leagues, not a minister.

Talking too much

All we know is the line between McNamee's and Clemens' memories of the events at question is so clear that only one of them is telling the truth.

We'll get more of Clemens' version in two weeks on 60 Minutes. Let's hope in the meantime he doesn't start a blog or open a MySpace page.

Maybe it would be different if Clemens had come out with these statements the afternoon the Mitchell Report was released.

But he didn't.

Instead, he went into hiding and is now dropping these itty-bitty bits of "truth" on us every other day.

Hey Roger, I'm not telling you to stop saying it ain't so, I'm just asking you to stop saying it ain't so, so often.